Revised Guidelines Redefine Birth Years and Classifications for Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha (2024)
Move over, Generation Z: Generation Alpha is officially the most accurate label to describe the youth of today.
The Pew Research Center periodically updates the age ranges it uses to define the generational groups, and that includes the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. In 2019, the organization officially added the birth years for Gen Z. Since then, other sources have weighed in on the suggested age ranges for Gen Alpha. Check out the latest definitions for each generation below:
When the Pew Research Center revised its guidelines for generational classifications in 2019, Gen Z and Gen Alpha didn’t appear on the list as separate categories. People born between 1997—the cutoff point for Millennials—and the present year were simply called “Post-Millennials.”
Gen Z has since grown into an economic and cultural force that’s hard to ignore. The world’s teens and young adults have been behind many of the biggest fashion trends, political movements, and memes of the last several years. Even though the oldest Millennials are in their early 40s, the generation has long been synonymous with young people. With Gen Z and Gen Alpha gaining more attention lately, that’s finally starting to change.
While the dates are still a bit up in the air (some argue that the oldest Zoomers were born in 1995), the Pew Research Center defines members of Gen Z as anyone born between 1997 and 2012. That means the group spans ages 12 to 27 as of 2024. The organization cites important political, economic, and technological factors that helped them determine the cutoff from Millennial to Gen Z. Most American Millennials were shaped by 9/11, the Iraq War, and the economic recession of 2008, while members of Gen Z may have little to no memory of these events. Gen Z is also notable for being the first generation to be totally immersed in the world of the internet since birth.
The official birth years for Generation Alpha are still strongly up for debate, with some contending that they start in 2010 (syncing up with when the first iPad was released) and end in 2025, while other sources cite 2012 (or just the early 2010s) as the jumping off point for this group.
The Pew Research Center, citing concerns that generational research has become “a crowded arena” influenced by marketing, will refrain from such analysis until there’s enough historical data to support comparisons between generations at similar stages of life. The debate over Gen Alpha’s official birth years will surely persist.
What is clear is that any babies born right now definitely belong to Generation Glass, a nickname they’ve gotten thanks to how omnipresent technology has been in their formative years. Another huge factor in shaping these youngsters will be COVID-19—kids born at the start of the pandemic in 2020 will be turning 4 this year and will have no memories of life before quarantine.
As they gain influence, you can expect to hear a lot more about Gen Z and Gen Alpha, plus the industries they may or may not be blamed for “killing” into the 2020s and beyond.
A version of this story ran in 2019; it has been updated for 2024.
U.S. news outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post describe Generation X as people born between 1965 and 1980. Gallup, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and Forbes use 1965–1980. Time magazine states that Generation X is "roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980".
: Born 1965-1980 (41-56 years old) Millennials: Born 1981-1996 (25-40 years old) Generation Z: Born 1997-2012 (9-24 years old) Generation Alpha: Born 2010-2025 (0-11 years old)
Generational definitions are most useful when they span a set age range and so allow meaningful comparisons across generations. That is why the generations today each span 15 years with Generation Y (Millennials) born from 1980 to 1994; Generation Z from 1995 to 2009 and Generation Alpha from 2010 to 2024.
Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 while members of the Gen Z years Gen Z years were born between 1997 and 2012. Millennials expect faster customer service. Gen Z tends to be better at accepting delayed gratification than millennials. Millennial customer service expectations are higher than Gen Z customers.
Generation Alpha has been shown to develop characteristics such as hyper-connectivity, independence, and visual learning. Alpha children are connected more than ever due to their technologically based way of living. They also prefer to learn visually, especially due to their technological involvement.
Millennials, born roughly between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, exhibit a penchant for authenticity, social consciousness, and experiences. In contrast, Generation Z, born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s, values individuality, digital fluency, and instant connectivity.
Many of the theories online veer into the conspiratorial: One woman suggested that Gen Z looks older because the quality of food is getting worse, which results in faster wrinkles; another claimed that it's because food is getting better, and because millennials ate food with more preservatives in it than Gen Z, ...
Recent News. millennial, term used to describe a person born between 1981 and 1996, though different sources can vary by a year or two. It was first used in the book Generations (1991) by William Strauss and Neil Howe, who felt it was an appropriate name for the first generation to reach adulthood in the new millennium ...
As you may think, defining the two generations is based entirely on dates—in this case, years. A Millennial is anyone born between 1980 and 1995. In the U.S., there are roughly 80 million Millennials. A member of Gen Z is anyone born between 1996 and the early-mid 2000s (end date can vary depending on source).
Generation Alpha describes the current generation of children who began being born in the year 2010. They are the children of the Millennials, and often the younger siblings of Generation Z.
Recent News. Generation Z, term used to describe Americans born during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some sources give the specific year range of 1997–2012, although the years spanned are sometimes contested or debated because generations and their zeitgeists are difficult to delineate.
In a 2022 report, the U.S. Census designates Generation Z as "the youngest generation with adult members (born 1997 to 2013)." Statistics Canada used 1997 to 2012, citing Pew Research Center, in a 2022 publication analyzing their 2021 census.
Whereas millennials were considered “digital pioneers,” who bore witness to the explosion of technology and social media, Gen Z was born into a world of peak technological innovation — where information was immediately accessible and social media increasingly ubiquitous.
The Silent generation describes adults born from 1928 through 1945. Children of the Great Depression and World War II, their “Silent” label refers to their conformist and civic instincts. It also makes for a nice contrast with the noisy ways of the anti-establishment Boomers.
Psychologist Jean Twenge defines Generation Z as the "iGeneration" with a cohort of those born between 1995 and 2012. The Australian Bureau of Statistics use 1996 to 2010 to define Generation Z in a 2021 Census report.
In the 2023 book Generation Alpha by Mark McCrindle, Generation Alpha is defined as "covering those born between 2010 and 2024". Definitions of Generation Z should be taken into account, however. Many definitions would indicate it ends in 2010 or 2012.
As society progresses into the 21st century, attention is shifting from Generation Z—individuals born roughly between 1997 and 2012—to Generation Alpha, the group starting from 2010 onward.
Gen Z is the generation born in the 15-year span from 1997 to 2012. In 2024, they will turn between 12 and 27 years old. This is the newest generation to gain influence in the world, from joining the workforce to being old enough to vote.
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